Coral Reef
by TreeStar
Summary: ZoLu YAOI. Luffy is being careless about falling overboard, much to Zoro's worry. But when Merry gets caught in a reef of corals, Luffy doesn't realize that deadly creatures hunt in reefs at night. Zoro's about to get the scare of his life. Rated s,e,X.
1. Part the First: Reef

This fic is a special 'thank you' gift to **DigitalDreamer** for offering me so much encouragement and really understanding the OP characters for the way I write them! I hope you like this! it's got that whole Luffy-pain, Zoro-love feel that we like so much.

Everyone else, this is an angsty, emotional story, so don't expect perfect in-characterness.

* * *

**Coral Reef**

_**Part the First: Reef**_

Napping conditions were decent where Zoro lay on aft deck. As far he as was concerned, anyway. It was sunny and freezing cold. Had there been clouds, it probably would have been snowing over the ocean, but the sky was clear, and as the sun dropped, so did the already-low temperature. Robin had suggested that they were just in a cold patch.

The winds were blowing strongly, carrying the Merry along at a nice pace. Dinner had been good. He had seen Luffy playing a card game incorrectly with Sanji and Usopp somewhere on another deck, and he didn't care where anybody else was, so that meant he had nothing to do really but nap in the waning sun.

They had finished that stupid Davy Back Fight and Luffy -covered in bandages- was recovering nicely two days later. His burns had really been the crew's only concern. Luffy liked to stretch and Zoro was constantly having to remind his captain not to, lest he really hurt himself. Every time he tried, his burns would get pulled and then sting like crazy even after Chopper rewrapped all of them.

Zoro was laying there, reflecting with his eyes closed when it happened. A huge SPLASH followed by the telltale cry of "WAAAA! SOMEBODY! LUFFY FELL IN THE OCEAN!"

Zoro sprung up at Chopper's cry and darted around to the stairs where he saw Chopper standing on the Port side rail in tears, pointing to the stream of bubbles rising up from the water beside the boat. No one else was in sight.

_Where the hell is everyone? _He thought as he took a deep breath and jumped overboard from the higher rail at the top of the stairs. That would give him a deeper dive and hence more depth to start with.

Because of his excellent response time, he knew that Luffy would not be hard to find this time. The water was very clear here. _How many times a day do we have to go through this? Honestly! _He had been hoping that, with Luffy being kept busy with the others, his captain would manage to keep himself safe for the rest of the afternoon. He didn't know what was so special about this section of the Grand Line that made Luffy feel the need to fall into it three and four times a day, but it was really starting to become a bit much. Couldn't he restrain himself _at all_?

Though it was kind of bothersome, Zoro couldn't help the small surge of panic that overtook him every time he heard that splash. That particular splash was like the start of a stopwatch. It meant that his captain was helpless and in danger of dying very soon unless someone did something to save him quickly, and Zoro felt the small pain go through his chest every time at the very thought. Even on a calm day like this, when fetching him out was no real hardship, it scared him.

No one knew what kind of creatures could be right beneath the boat at any given time! While none of them would be a threat to Luffy normally, when he was helpless he could be killed by one! Or he would be eaten alive, and then Zoro would have to fight the thing quickly, and cut it up to get the boy out before time was up. That would scare the hell out of the kid, no matter how he tried to play it off. Luffy had told Zoro a story once that had left the swordsman damn sure that if Luffy were attacked by a creature while he was helpless in the water, that would revive too many memories and make the incident traumatic for the kid.

This time it wasn't too long before Luffy appeared in his vision, totally limp and sinking fast. Zoro had the boy wrapped in his arms and was back up at the surface just as his lungs started to burn. As soon as their heads broke the water, Zoro pounded Luffy's back a few times to help him get lost air back into his lungs.

Luffy gulped a few deep breaths and choked for a few moments. Then he started making tiny pained noises. Zoro was sure they would have been loud cries of pain had they been out of the water and had Luffy the energy. His bandages had come unraveled in the water and exposed his burned skin and barely-closed cuts to the salt of the sea, and that had to sting bad.

"Great job, captain." Zoro said to the boy, hiding his relief with irritation as he towed himself through the water with his one available arm.

Luffy only continued to moan in pain, and struggled to raise his arms to hold himself to Zoro. It didn't work, of course, but Zoro caught on and paused in the ocean to turn Luffy and help him achieve his intent, lifting the powerless arms around his neck and holding him closely for a moment. Though he would have liked to hold the boy safe for a little longer, the wind was still carrying Merry well today. He had to get to get on the ship before it was out of reach and Chopper had to lower the anchor for them.

Zoro unwrapped one arm from around Luffy to grab the rope that Chopper had tossed overboard. Then he watched his captain as they waited for the reindeer in man-form to tow them aboard. "Luffy, you gonna be okay?"

"…hurts." Luffy moaned weakly back to his first mate.

Zoro sighed. "I shouldn't wonder."

Chopper was towing them up the ship, now, and the two were over the rail quickly. Merry was a small ship that rode low in the water, after all, and Zoro had been grateful for it every time he had to be pulled back in thanks to something his careless captain had done.

As soon as the two had collapsed onto the deck, Zoro rolled Luffy onto his side facing away, laying beside him and holding him like that so the boy could keep breathing okay until he could move on his own again. After about a minute of this, Luffy's energy returned enough that he could roll himself onto his back and wrap his arms back around his best friend's neck.

Zoro let the boy do this for a few seconds, supporting his head, and feeling relieved that he was going to be okay… again. Once the relief had passed, however, the anger settled in. He gently pulled the boy away from him, sitting up. "What the hell were you doing? That was the third time today, Luffy! _The third time!_"

Luffy sat up tiredly as Chopper fussed over him with his stethoscope. "Sorry, Zoro. I was looking at something and I-"

Zoro wouldn't hear any more excuses. "What if something happened once -_just once_- and no one could get to you in time? Think about it, Luffy. I know you don't fall in on purpose, but it's like you don't care if it keeps happening."

"I care!" Luffy got a little heated at this, and then hissed as Chopper unwrapped the rest of his chest bandage, exposing his wounds.

Zoro looked at the scabbed-over burns and the sickly skin and it only angered him more. Why did Luffy keep doing this to himself? He would be healing well if he would just stop falling in and irritating his wounds. "No, you don't care. If you cared, you would stop being so reckless about it."

Luffy grinned at him, "I don't need to worry about that! Nothing will stop you from reaching me, I know it!"

Zoro paused. "That's true. I won't let anything stop me from saving you, Luffy, but what if I'm not there?"

Luffy bit his lip and didn't answer. Zoro took his point home, "You need to stop taking it for granted that I'll always be with you during that five minute gap that makes the difference whether you live or drown."

Luffy looked at his lap as Chopper began to bandage him. The small Xoan had become very efficient at doing this quickly, but not painlessly, because Luffy winced several times. Zoro almost felt that he deserved it for putting him though so much daily stress.

He worried more about this kid than anyone in his entire life, and he wasn't stupid; he knew why. Luffy was his captain. This kid was his world. And if anything ever happened to him…

Zoro sighed and ran his hand over his face. "Just… be careful, okay?" Then he went inside.

Chopper continued to wrap his wounds, "He's just upset, Luffy. Don't let it bother you."

Luffy didn't answer. He hadn't meant to make Zoro mad. He had just seen that shiny thing in the water and couldn't help but lean over to get a closer look and then that wave rocked the boat and the deck was wet and… he just fell in again. Why did he keep falling in today? …_I'll bet Ace never falls in. _

He felt a little jealous about that, though he'd never admit it out loud, and flinched as Chopper tightly taped down the last of the bandage around his chest. His burns hurt. They hadn't been so bad after Chopper had bandaged them the first time, but his skin felt all wet and nasty when bandages first came off, and when they kept coming off in the sea water, it hurt! And they looked kinda gross. But the doctor insisted that the salt water was actually good for them - if only he could stop getting the gauze wet _with_ the wounds, instead of taking it off first.

With the new gauze on, Luffy thanked Chopper and went over to the rail again to dangle over the side and look at the water. He supposed he could go inside and play another game with the others. They had all gone in because it had become to windy to play cards on the deck anymore. But the captain decided, once again, to stay out here.

Some of the neatest things swam under the boat. If Zoro could only ever be here to see them with him, he'd understand why he kept looking. And it was a good thing he did, too. Had he not been avidly staring at the water like he was, no one would have noticed that the reefs beneath the boat were starting to get kind close to the hull.

He leaned closer to see better, because it was getting pretty dark. Yeah, those coral formations were _really_ close, actually. Like, on-the-verge-of-scraping-the-hull close.

Without another thought, Luffy ran up front and dropped the anchor. It didn't take long for the ship to lurch to a stop.

There much a bunch of noise and some shouting in the galley when this happened before Nami and Sanji threw the door open to see what the hell had just happened. "Luffy?" Sanji spotted him on the fore deck and called to him, "Did we just hit something?"

"No! I dropped the anchor! Nami, come here!"

"Dropped the anchor? Already?" Nami was totally thrown as to why he had just taken it upon himself to stop the ship so early for the night. That wasn't the only reason it didn't add up. She quickly crossed the deck of the leaning ship, calling, "Luffy, the sails are still unfurled. You know not to drop anchor with the sails out! Do you want us to capsize?"

Luffy barely spared the sails a glance. "Usopp, Sanji! Bring up the sails!"

Everyone was out on deck by now and wondering why Luffy was suddenly behaving so oddly, but those selected went to follow orders. Obviously something was up.

Nami made it up to her captain, "What is it?"

Luffy pointed to something a little over and behind the Merry. "What's that?"

Nami looked at the small glob of land sticking up out of the ocean. It was too small to be an island. Obviously no one could live on it. _How did we all miss that?_

Well, not all of them had if Luffy was pointing at it. It was a patch of land sitting out of the water, and the only thing that made it not just another rock poking up was that it was surrounded with a small beach and had a dense cluster of trees and ferns in the middle. Trees meant fresh water, and that was something random rocks in the ocean didn't have.

Nami was kind of stumped. "I don't know… it wasn't on the map, whatever it is… Is this why you dropped the anchor?"

Luffy shook his head, "Oh, no. Look down there." he pointed to the water, where the coral reefs were still very close to the boat.

At first Nami looked surprised, then she appeared to become a little perturbed, and a moment after that, she groaned. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me… Luffy. How did we get here?"

Luffy shrugged. "We just sailed in. And we're surrounded, I checked."

Up top, the boys had finally finished tying off the main sail, and Chopper and Zoro had gotten the rear one already and were walking back up front to join them.

Luffy looked at his navigator, "How do we get out?"

Nami put her hand to her forehead and thought a little bit. After a minute, she sighed. "It's probably not as bad as it looks. We must have gotten surrounded as low tide came in. We should be able to sail out slowly by just maneuvering how I say, but we'll need full light and the tide back in for that. It's too late now, the sky's barely even pink anymore and the water's turning black. We'll only hit if we move now. It was actually a good move dropping the anchor, captain. We'll have to wait until morning."

Luffy smiled at her praise and nodded decisively. "Then that's what we'll do."

* * *

Night had settled over the ship. The moon was new, so the sky was black save for the blanket of beautiful stars. Everyone had gone to sleep hours before. It had to be around midnight. 

The crew had stayed up pretty late, which was a little unusual for them. Sailors rose and set with the sun, typically, for when the sun was gone, no more sailing could be done on the Grand Line. It was just to dangerous. But since Nami had said they would need full daylight to even make way through the reefs, that meant that they would be able to sleep in late. It also meant that they could play games all night! …or until ten thirty or so…

Anyway, they were sleeping now, and had put Zoro on watch, since it was his turn and all.

Now the swordsman sat in the crows nest, trying to stay awake but not really succeeding very well. He was sure Robin was up reading. Every now and then a candle flickered in the galley.

Down in the hold, Luffy woke groggily in his hammock. Nature was calling again, so he swung himself out of the hammock and stumbled his way over to the ladder, lazily dragging himself up and sliding the hatch over. He put it back out of habit before proceeding over to the rail to do his thing.

Just as he was opening his fly and getting into position, he thought he saw something move under the water. Something thick and pale, and kind of an odd shape. _What the…? _He waited for a moment, and when he didn't see it again, he proceeded his evacuation.

He had just finished reassembling his pants when he saw it again. _Okay, now I know there's something there._

…But again it was gone.

There was almost no glare from the starlight and the water was calm and dark. He leaned down a little more to see if it would move again. It did!

It was white-ish, (well, the part he could make out was anyway) and hiding down in the corals. Luffy couldn't really make out how big or small it was, or even what it was shaped like.

Luffy stretched his neck a little to get a closer look. It looked kind of long… or something. It was weird how pale it was, it almost looked slimy. _Glech, bet it's really gross…I wonder if you can eat it?_

It had to be just under the surface, whatever it was. How interesting! He stretched even closer.

He pulled back too late as a long, thick tentacle shot out of the water, wrapped around his neck, and pulled him under. Luffy didn't even have time to scream.

Way up on the mast, a not-quite-asleep Zoro had heard one of the boys come out of the hold a few minutes before. He knew it had been Luffy when said boy had started answering nature right off the side of the boat. Zoro didn't get why the others -especially Nami- had an issue with that, but the point remained that Luffy was the only one on the ship who actually made it a habit to pee in the nearest body of water when he had to go.

Which was why he shot up so quickly when he heard the loud splash. It hadn't sounded like one of Luffy's normal falls; there had been no shout accompanying it. Luffy usually yelled as he fell in the water to let someone know that it was even happening to him. Luffy may have just been tired, but still this scared Zoro a little more than he was willing to admit to even himself.

As he reached the bottom and crossed over to the rail. In his sprint, he heard Robin's voice call after him, "Luffy?" from where she now stood on the balcony.

"Ocean." He gave the one-word answer, trusting that she knew what to do, just before he dived into the water after the boy.

It was almost totally black under the surface. The only mercy was that the corals werejust underneath the water(he'd carefully minded them in his shallow dive), so what little light there was did seem to make the them glow… for the first four yards.

That wasn't enough, however, because he couldn't make out anything beyond that. It all went by feel after that point, and he knew hew was on a time limit.

When Luffy sank, he sank straight down and Zoro would have seen him right away if he had been stopped short on the way down. While Zoro was relieved that Luffy hadn't been speared by a coral stalk, it served as a double-edged sword, because that meant that the hammer had a good twenty second start on him. So he had to go deeper and deeper into the lightless pit of freezing water.

He could only imagine all the dangerous things that lived in conditions such as this. The most dangerous forms of sea life were night-feeders, and this coral reef was probably swimming with them. Zoro sped up his dive. It was getting colder, and the pressure was increasing. How deep was this area? He was obviously over the ledge of the reef and down in the deeper corals by now.

_Luffy, where are you? _Zoro pulled himself down deeper. Something bit his leg, but it didn't have sharp teeth. It startled him more than anything and he moved for his swords… only to remember that he didn't have them with him.

He let out a strong kick and the thing -whatever it was- went away. Good. He didn't have time right now.

He'd already been under for about a minute now. It didn't hurt yet and personally, he could go longer, but he knew that whatever time he spent moving down, he'd have to spend again in getting back up again because of Luffy's weight. Those cursed with the fruit of the devil were heavy in water, and it took almost as much time getting them to the surface as it took in swimming down alone. _Luffy, come on!_

What had been driving Zoro the hardest was the knowledge that the smaller boy couldn't work to hold his breath after his energy was gone. But now, since Zoro hadn't felt the trail of bubbles that his captain typically left behind him, the swordsman began to realize that Luffy mustn't have had time to take a breath in the first place, and that was a scary thought. In fact, if Luffy hadn't inhaled _or_ yelled before he fell in, that probably meant-

Zoro felt a sort of fear set in. That meant that something had grabbed his captain.

Zoro sped up, breaking a tip of coral off it's stalk as he went, so as to have some sort of a make-shift weapon in case he needed it. He was moving as fast as he could now. He was at a minute at a half now, and he was starting to feel it. _Luffy, where are you!_

Suddenly he was stopped as he hit the ocean floor. This was it. There was no deeper, and there was no Luffy.

For the first time in his life, Zoro felt true panic settle inside his chest. Luffy wasn't where Zoro had expected to follow him to, and he knew that the time he could allot to searching was almost up. He began to move around, swimming across the bottom, feeling for _anything_ that could lead him to his best friend.

He had to find Luffy. There was no question in his mind about that. He wouldn't resurface without his captain! Luffy was too important to the world -important to him- to lose. Not this night. Not this minute. He had to see Luffy smile at him every day. He hadn't realized how much he truly depended on that smile, on that endless determination and confidence, until he had felt for him, and he wasn't there. To Zoro, Luffy was like a drug that he couldn't get enough of. He was completely dependant on being with his captain, and if he lost that drug now, he would die.

_If I can't find him… I NEED to find him!_ Zoro thought in a panic as he frantically twisted in the water to feel all around himself.

If something had grabbed the younger teen, it was likely that it had taken him into the shallower part of the corals, where it was more likely to live. He picked a direction and prayed (for the first time in his life) to whoever was listening that it was the right one. It had to be. He would have no second chance at this.

He vaguely registered that his lungs were now starting to hurt. He didn't have any more time to spend down here, dammit! He should be moving Luffy toward the surface by now, if he wanted the helpless boy to be okay.

Zoro towed himself as quickly as he could across the corals, moving his arms in wide, searching sweeps. Something suddenly moved beside him, and he closed in on it.

It felt like a giant muscle, and from what Zoro could tell, it resembled some type of freak octopus. It seemed to hold no interest in Zoro, however, and the swordsman followed along the arm to feel that it already had a prize.

As soon as one hand grazed across Luffy's face, the other one raised the coral piece that it still held, and drove it hard into the animal. _Fucking let him go! You can't have him! _The creature had been wrapped about Luffy's neck and squeezing it like a boa constrictor, and now Zoro could tasted that it had sprayed ink into the water in defense as he worked to uncurl the tendril from Luffy's tender throat.

Within ten seconds, he was swimming for the surface harder than he ever had before, his captain held against him. The smaller boy had to have been down for almost three minutes already, but if that thing had been cutting off Luffy's circulation, then there was a good chance that more would be wrong with the captain than a lack of oxygen.

He broke the surface with a loud gasp of air and immediately focused all his attention on his captain, who had not taken a gasp. "Luffy! Luffy, breathe!"

He tilted Luffy's head against his shoulder and tilted the unconscious boy's face toward his own. Luffy was so pale. The kid was white as a sheet, and he wasn't breathing.

Panicked, Zoro looked around for the ship. He saw it, but it was way over there! They were closer to the patch of land now! He must have gone further across the bottom than he thought.

He couldn't think about that, though, because he had to get Luffy out of the water. He swam for the shore, not remembering to dodge the corals and hitting his legs painfully several times.

The land was even closer than it had looked in the darkness. He soon reached it and laid Luffy out on the sand before him. "Luffy! Luffy wake up." He grabbed him by the shoulders and shook, "Wake up, Luffy! Come on!"

Nothing. Zoro laid his ear to the boy's chest. There was no pulse, so he started CPR straight away.

As Zoro repeatedly covered Luffy's mouth to give him air and then pumped the smaller chest, all he could feel was his world slipping away from him. Everything that was important to him. Everything that mattered was here in arms, and if he lost that, there would be nothing left. He would just be a shell. And Luffy still wasn't breathing.

Angry tears blurred his vision, and he began to shout as he pumped the injured chest, "Damn it, Luffy! I swore I would never lose again, and that means you, too! You told me you had no problem with that, Pirate King! So don't you DARE die on me! Don't you fucking DARE! BREATHE!"

For the first time he could remember, he felt his chest choke up in emotional agony. He had to struggle to keep the CPR going as silent sobs wracked his body. He just couldn't quit. He just couldn't! Growing desperate, he finally began to plead with the stillness around him when he wasn't giving Luffy air. "Don't take him from me. You can't have him… I still need him, please don't take him away from me…"

The captain hadn't breathed in what had to be going on over five minutes now, and Zoro's emotions were making his arms weaker as he continued to try so hard to bring Luffy back. His pumping slowed to a stop, and he felt like he would collapse as his desire to live leave with the soul of the boy laying in the sand.

His captain was dead. He was gone.

When the realization hit home, Zoro's tears stopped flowing. His expression went blank, his eyes empty. He felt nothing inside. He felt dead. The pain would be so intense for him to feel, that his mind had just completely shut down in defense to it all.

Slowly moving his eyes over his captain's pale body, the lost first mate leaned over one more time to give his captain some air. Just one more time.

His hand slid behind the boy's neck, and he closed his lips over Luffy's, filling those lungs with air in one last, desperate attempt to resuscitate the person he had entrusted his soul with, and never even told…and pulled back suddenly when the surge of air fought it's way though Luffy's form and the smallest pirate began to choke and shake violently. Acting on instinct, because it was the only thing still working clearly, Zoro rolled the boy in his side and steadied him as the water choked from his lungs.

Luffy coughed water up onto the sand and made small gurgling noises, his hands clenching spastically as he seized up. Zoro wrapped his arms around the boy and lifted him a little away from the sand so that he wouldn't inhale it in his throes. Luffy's chest suddenly heaved more purposefully, and Luffy seemed to be reflexively try to position his arms to try to weakly hold himself as well. Zoro knew immediately what was happening, and could tell it wasn't going to work; that he would aspirate in this position. He quickly moved the boy so that he was more face-down right before the contents of his stomach came up onto the land beneath him. Luffy wretched four times, getting up all of the sea water in his system.

Zoro held one hand to the boy's forehead to support his head, because the muscles in his neck didn't seem to be letting him hold his head up himself. The other arm wrapped around his chest like a sash to hold him up with Luffy's shoulder laying in his inner elbow, and his hand down at the boy's waist.

When he was sure Luffy had finished, Zoro gently rotated the boy and lowered him into his lap. There was no use worrying about getting away from the vomit. Most of it was just water, and they would have to get back into the water again soon, anyway.

Zoro cradled Luffy to himself and rocked back and forth. _He's alive, he's gonna be okay. _He ran his fingers through the boy's hair as he tried to stop the tears from falling. He had never felt so strongly toward anyone as he did toward this boy right now. He'd almost lost him. For a moment, there, he had.

In his arms, Luffy tried to open his eyes and look at his first mate, but he was too dizzy and unfocused to distinguish shapes in the darkness. He could feel Zoro crying, but he wasn't sure why. He swallowed and let out a moan. His throat and chest were in so much pain. Breathing hurt like he couldn't describe. Had he regained the energy he would have played it off like anything else, but he simply had no strength. He was cold, and he knew this drained feeling, so he must have been in the water… but he felt so strange.

He parted his lips to speak, but his voice wouldn't work, so all that came out was a weak moan that sort of sounded like the swordsman's name.

Zoro couldn't help but sigh with relief when Luffy tried to speak. He could tell the boy wanted to talk, but just wasn't coherent enough. "Yeah, Luffy. I'm here. Don't try to talk, just take it easy for a minute."

Though he desperately wanted to know what was so scary that it had made _Zoro_ cry, Luffy took the advice. He couldn't have moved if he wanted to. Why did it hurt so much? His chest was so heavy. He could vaguely tell that his bandages were coming undone and there was sand creeping into his wounds, so that would sting like hell later. He also registered that he wasn't wearing anything but his shorts, so Zoro's arms were warm and holding him skin-against-skin, and that actually felt nicer than wet clothes would have.

Luffy relaxed and laid still in Zoro's arms, waiting for the fog in his mind to clear. He could so easily fall asleep, but every time he felt like he was almost there, Zoro would rock him a little to pull him back. It took more than a couple minutes, and he still couldn't make his body listen to him, but he stabilized enough to open his eyes and blink a few times at his swordsman, who was watching him with an expression Luffy had never seen him wear before. It took him another few seconds to realize that if there was sand around them, then they weren't on the ship… so he had no idea where they were.

Luffy swallowed painfully, and tried to speak again. "Zoro?" he asked in a whisper. He didn't know why, but he knew that it hurt him to use his voice, so he wasn't going to do it.

Zoro ran his hand across the boy's cheek as Luffy pressed his face against that hand, seeking the warmth it held. That strong emotion hit him hard again as he spoke, "Hey, Luffy. You with me now?"

The boy moaned softly and tried to look around him, but his neck hurt too much to really move it for some reason. Zoro's hand against his cheek was giving his head extra support, and he was grateful. Slowly he became aware of his position, and that he had never been there before.

Zoro was holding him and didn't seem to want to put him down. In fact it felt to Luffy like if someone tried to take him away, Zoro might just cut their arm off. The pieces slowly came together in his mind. _I didn't just fall in, did I? My energy should be back by now. Something's actually wrong with me. _

His own body was shaking and he couldn't control it. He took a few deep breaths (that had Zoro tensing up), and then relaxed again and tried to speak. "…where…?"

"Safe. We're on that bit of land sticking up out of the water," Zoro spoke to him clearly, "Remember, we got trapped in those corals? We're by the ship."

"…hurts." the boy said, and Zoro noted that his color was starting to come back, which was great. The kid had been blue when he'd gotten him out of the water.

"What hurts?"

Luffy weakly raised his hand above his throat, but didn't touch it.

Zoro nodded, "I'm not surprised. Do you remember what happened at all?"

Luffy made a sound that Zoro took as a 'no'. the swordsman nodded, this time to himself, and thought for a moment before telling his captain, "Don't worry about it right now. It's over, and that's all the matters."

In the meantime, Zoro was growing increasingly troubled by how Luffy continued to shake in his arms. He had to get the boy back to the boat before he got hypothermic. It was below freezing out here now with the sun on the other side of the world. "Luffy, I know it's not fair, but I have to take you back into the water."

The boy let out a small, sobbing breath at this news. His energy was just coming back, and that water was freezing!

Zoro held him closer at the noise. "I know, buddy. But I gotta get you back to the ship. As soon as we're there, you can go to bed and sleep for a week if you want to, alright?"

Luffy sniffled, but nodded. He really couldn't take this right now …but he knew Zoro was right. They had to go home.

Zoro slowly stood and lifted the boy with him, positioning him over his front. Those corals were still under the surface and he wasn't going to risk hurting Luffy on them. Once Luffy was ready, Zoro waded out into the water and pushed himself onto his back. He held Luffy tightly on his chest, legs dangling in the water and head resting just below Zoro's shoulder so his face was out of the water. And he started kicking his feet to propel them toward the ship.

* * *

The second part will pick up right where this left off. EXACTLY where this left off, actually. There won't even be a break in the flow. 


	2. Part the Second: Ship

I'm so sorry this took so long. Now that finals just ended, I am really knuckling down on all of my works in-progress. This one has needed to be finished for about a month now, and i just finished it not five minutes before posting it now. If there are incomplete sentences in the middle, please tell me. I have a TERRIBLE habit of leaving incomplete sentences that just stop becauseI plan on getting back tothem, then i forget they are there,and then a new sentence starts and it's crazy you read it. Like this: "I hope you all...And that's how I invented the spoon."

WARNING! sexual innuendo, nudity,and wonderful M-rated suggestive situations ahead (Not a lemon on this site. But read my bottom note...)

**

* * *

**

**Coral Reef**

**_Part the Second: Ship_**

Zoro didn't hit any corals the whole way to the Merry, and stopped every thirty seconds or so to make sure they were still heading in the right direction. They were. Every time. It was amazing. He couldn't help but think about how Luffy would have cracked a joke about it, had the helpless boy not been sleeping on him throughout the journey.

As he got close to the ship, he turned around to swim normally. Robin was at the railing, and when they got close, she tossed down the rope ladder and bloomed some hands to take Luffy from Zoro. He passed the captain off to her, telling her to support his head, and swam for the ladder.

Robin retracted all of her arms until she had Luffy safe against her. She held him close and moved across the deck to the towels she had brought up while she waited. The poor baby was frozen through! She gently sat him down and wrapped him in a huge fluffy towel before lifting him up to her heat again.

Zoro had made it up the ladder and dropped to the deck to catch his breath. It was so cold. He watched how Robin handled Luffy and knew he would be okay with her while he got himself a towel. He wanted to put Luffy in the tub, but it would take too much time to reheat the bath water. Until he was drier, Robin was warmer for the freezing Paramecia.

Reveling the quiet as he dried himself off and threw his shirt over there somewhere, Zoro was glad that Robin hadn't awoken the entire crew. They would only crowd around and make too much noise. Even Chopper was too business-like when it came to injuries to be gentle enough with Luffy this time. Luffy needed one-on-one attention after coming from an extended exposure to water. It was something he rarely got, Zoro had noted on several occasions. But this time there was more to it. Zoro got to take care of him now, because he was the one who had held him when he died and came back. If anyone tried to tear them apart now without his consent, Zoro would get… really mad.

Luffy had come to -for the second time- in Robin's arms. He was confused a bit, because he knew he was just being held by Zoro a second ago… or something…

She looked down at him and spoke very softly, greeting him with the knowledge that he was very disoriented, for she had seen with her powers what had happened on that island. "Hi, Luffy. You feel okay?"

Luffy wasn't used to being talked to so softly this much by his nakama, but found that he didn't mind it right now, despite it's out-of-placeness. It was nice to know that at least he wasn't going to be expected to jump up and start laughing energetically, or ordering them through a battle or something. That was reassuring. He took a deep breath and whispered, "cold…zoro?"

She turned a little to put the first mate in his line of sight. "Right over there."

Zoro heard Robin's last sentence and turned his attention away from drying off as quickly as possible to look at them. A few feet away, he could see Luffy shivering and Robin's arms, head resting on her shoulder while she rocked him. This wasn't really an odd sight to be behold; Luffy was so light, after all. The boy's eyes were open, and he was watching Zoro with a tired expression, like he had no energy at all. Since he was still letting himself be passed around and carried, Zoro was sure that was true.

Zoro was sure that Luffy's memories would be returning before long, though, and he wasn't sure which memories would come back. The swordsman wanted to have him in bed before that so that Luffy wouldn't have to deal with his near-hypothermic state and memories of being killed by a sea creature all at once. He was too weak right now. As far as Zoro was concerned, he would be too weak for a while, and the swordsman was going to see to it that he stayed in bed all day tomorrow whether he wanted to or not.

As if reading his mind, Robin slowly approached him with her little bundle of Luffy and moved as if to pass him over. Zoro had to hand it to her: if there was only one thing that made evil women so conniving, it was that they were damn perceptive! Robin wasn't really that bad, though. It had taken time for him to see that… but he'd met worse.

He flung his towel over there with his shirt, and reached to take the boy. Luffy moved from one person to the other, moving just enough to roll into Zoro's arms nicely, which meant that at least some of his strength had returned. Or maybe Zoro was just being hopeful…

"Will you tell Sen-san?" Robin asked in a whisper.

"Not tonight. I'm gonna put him to bed." Zoro answered in the same fashion as he walked over to the hold.

"Will you be alright?" she asked, lifting the hatch for him.

"Yeah, thanks. If something happens, I'll get that stupid cook to give me a hand. You'll finish watch?"

Robin nodded. "Sure. You should sleep with him tonight and keep him in bed in the morning. I'll tell the others why when they get up, so they won't wake him."

"I owe you one," Zoro nodded, and climbed down the ladder. Robin closed the hatch behind them.

Luffy had closed his eyes and half-slept through the exchange. He felt Zoro go down the ladder, but didn't rouse until the swordsman had stopped in front of his sofa and laid him down on the cushions. Then Zoro left, and Luffy opened his eyes and tilted his head painfully to look after where he had gone to, but Zoro was out of sight.

He returned after a moment, however, with Chopper's First Aid bag from which he extracted a roll of bandages. Luffy sighed gently. He had forgotten.

Zoro lowered himself next to the couch and propped Luffy up with one arm to unravel the loose bandages. Luffy hissed when the gauze peeled away from few places, but the sand had been washed out by the swim back, so they were -for the most part- clean. Chopper _had_ been saying that the salt water would ease the healing…

As he laid there, eyes closed again and letting Zoro do as he would, Luffy tried to trace the events that had put him here. Let's see… he had woke up needing to pee, and went to the side of the boat. …And that was it. He saw a few blurred images in his mind of Zoro on the island, but he had been so out of it then, he couldn't be sure if those were even real anymore. He had lost a great deal when he had fallen asleep on the way back to the ship. How had he even ended up so far away from the ship, freezing and soaked in the first place? Why was he so weak and in pain now? His mind was still too tired to formulate one solid question, and his body too tired to ask it, but he so wanted to recall…

Zoro felt Luffy try to tense up and looked up from his work, worried that he had hurt his captain. "Luffy?" he whispered, mindful of the others' sleep. Luffy didn't hear him at first, so hard was he trying to trace what happened between the ship and Zoro… but those memories just weren't there. They just weren't.

Knowing at least partially what was wrong, Zoro laid the gauze down and took Luffy's hand in his one hand, cupping Luffy's cheek in the other. "Luffy, it's gonna okay. You're in shock, so you need to try and relax. That's part of the reason you can't move yet. It'll wear off once you're warm and you've slept a little."

Luffy let the thoughts slide as Zoro caressed his cheek, settling to lay still on the couch. Maybe it was for the better that he couldn't remember yet, as the only thing he knew about what type of memory would hit him was that it would be bad. Going through hard or painful memories was something that inevitably happened to everyone at times, but when they started to come to Luffy, he liked to go someplace alone.

He had good reason for choosing to do this: those memories that he had that effected him the most were about Shanks (the nights he'd spent on the ship with him, and of course That Day), or of Ace when they were kids, (like that time he'd fallen off that cliff, or when people had called him a freak throughout his childhood), or even of more recent events (he had never found out if the sandstorm that Crocodile sent to Yuba before running him through had killed that nice old grandpa, and he felt guilty that he had been so completely ineffective at stopping it), and all of those memories were personal.

Zoro had never once left his side since the island, and Luffy tried to thank him for simply staying with him, but when he took a deeper, rasping breath, his face scrunched up at the painful feeling it gave him.

"Don't try to talk, yet." Zoro caressed the cold cheek one more time before picking up the bandage again. "I need to finish wrapping you, so I can get you into something warm."

Luffy didn't feel ready to be moved again at all -this whole shock thing was new to him and he didn't like it- but he was really ready to be warm and dry again. He couldn't nod, and Zoro had told him not to speak, but he Zoro still had his hand, and Luffy had enough energy to squeeze it.

Zoro rewarded him with a soft smile, "Alright."

As Zoro lifted him gently and continued to wrap his burns and cuts, Luffy enjoyed his first mate's touches. Zoro was still acting in that way that clearly told Luffy that something more serious had happened than what he remembered. Zoro was being so gentle and patient… and he'd held him so tenderly, and the way that he'd carried him…

Zoro was rarely tender with Luffy. Gentle and patient were a given in order to be the first mate to someone like Luffy, but tender -and even boarder line pampering- went outside of Zoro's general mainframe. He tucked the younger pirate in on special occasions, and visited him on watch when it was very cold, to keep him from falling asleep and getting sick. And Luffy knew, from all those times he had woken in the morning with more blankets on him than he had gone to sleep with, that Zoro occasionally watched him sleep. But Zoro had never behaved like this before.

It was as though the swordsman had completely disregarded the usual respect for the chain of command that he always stuck to. Zoro was seeing Luffy for who he was underneath all his unending courage, and he was treating what was left after he had pushed past the confident air. Not as a notorious pirate captain or as a hero of nations… just a little boy who needed to be loved and taken care of.

Except it was more extreme than that. Luffy felt, through Zoro's touches, that his best friend was actually _afraid_ for him. Such a demonstration of open care while Luffy was actually awake to enjoy it almost felt to the captain like Zoro was afraid that if he stopped pampering him like this, something terrible would happen to him. Something the swordsman couldn't bear. But Luffy just couldn't figure out what had done this to Zoro, because his Zoro NEVER got scared.

Zoro's fingers roamed over his skin to wrap his wounds so personally and with more care than he would have shown had he been tending his own wounds. He soon finished and taped the gauze so that it would stay in place. Luffy sighed ever so softly as his first mate rested him back against the couch to relax.

Once he had laid Luffy back a little, Zoro walked silently over to get both his and Luffy's blankets. He also grabbed Luffy's dark red robe. There was a third blanket already draped over the back of the other, dry couch that he planned on putting the boy to sleep on, and Zoro planned to use it, too. Setting the blankets on the arm, he sat at the foot of the couch this time and got his captain's attention. "Hey, Luffy? You still with me?"

Luffy looked at him and gave the strongest smile he could manage. Zoro could see Luffy's strength returning in that smile, and gave him a smile in return. He slid the boy further down the couch before meeting Luffy's curious eyes again. "I've gotta strip you out of your wet things, okay?"

Luffy tried to nod, completely trusting. It didn't really work, but Zoro got the message. He had never been stripped down by someone else when he was awake before, leastways not after puberty, but he completely trusted his first mate. Besides, Zoro had seen it all before. Not only did he take his bath with Zoro so he wouldn't drown, but Luffy knew that Zoro had helped change him after his fight with Foxy, and he'd probably helped with him in Alubarna. That meant Zoro knew what he was doing, and Luffy couldn't be in better hands.

His watched as Zoro lifted his numb legs into lap and slid the icy denim down his body. He knew that Luffy didn't bother with underwear half the time, so that at least made the swordsman's job easier. As the jeans exposed him to the cold air, Luffy gasped in shock and then began shivering all over again, and Zoro sped up, quick to get the freezing pants away from contact with Luffy's skin.

Once the cloth had been balled up and tossed to the floor, Zoro moved Luffy's legs out of his lap so that his feet were just above the wood, and then leaned over Luffy to help him sit up. Luffy did his best to help, managing to lift his numb arms now to wrap around Zoro's neck as he was raised off the cushions to be sat against the back.

Zoro didn't let him stay that way for long, however, leaning him forward and supporting him on his forearm while helping Luffy get his own arms through the sleeves of his robe with the other. Then he rose and adjusted in front of the captain to lift him so that he was on his feet, but barely supporting himself.

Once he had Luffy up off the couch and securely in his arms, Zoro reached around to tie the robe's sash, and then grabbed a blanket and quickly wrapped it around the shivering Paramecia, completely enveloping him in the warmer, soft material.

Maybe it was all the joggling around that did it, but that was the moment that every memory about what had happened to him that would come back, did. Luffy gave a strangled gasp, his arms reflexively coming out of the front of the blanket to wrap around Zoro for support, as the image of a huge white arm-thing shot up out of the darkness to grab him. Then he was in the dark water again, his energy leaving him and the pain around his throat increasing until the combined forces finally took him out. Then Zoro's voice crying… Zoro was with him. Zoro was with him and crying and holding him. And he hurt so bad. _That_ was why his throat hurt so bad… so the whole running out of air thing was maybe why his chest was still hurting… but he had run out of air underwater before, and his chest had never hurt like this did. But then how long…?

Zoro had frozen for a moment when Luffy had suddenly gone rigid and taken a death-grip to him. The blanket had been thrown back a little, and now Zoro reached around to get it back around Luffy's shoulders as best he could with the boy glued to him. "Luffy?"

No answer. Zoro was then sure that Luffy's repressed memories had come back. Luffy started to let loose with occasional involuntary spasms and whimpers, not of pain but of renewed shock. His mind hadn't been ready to come out of shock yet (regain his memories), so now he was going through another form of physical shock.

Zoro was positive that if he hadn't been so cold, this wouldn't have been happening to him. He felt that this was fault. He was taking to long to get Luffy warm. In fact, this whole damn thing had been his fault. If he had just been faster in the first place, Luffy wouldn't have been under for so long.

Zoro brought his arms around boy to hold him close against him, rubbing his back to create heat, and to ground Luffy here with him. He scooped the boy up after a moment and sat back on the couch, holding Luffy in his lap and wrapping the blanket back around his front to keep him closed in the warmth. Luffy never responded once during this treatment. He just laid in Zoro's arms, eyes open, but unseeing. Zoro sat quietly with him for almost a minute before trying to get through to him again. "Luffy? Hey, Luffy?"

Luffy heard his name being called, and opened his eyes blearily. Where…?

"Hey, Luffy, you back?"

Zoro.

Luffy blinked at his first mate for a moment. "Zoro? How long… was I underwater?"

Zoro met Luffy's eyes. He didn't really know how to say this right so that Luffy would take it seriously and not just blow it off, but he had to say something. "A while. You drowned."

Luffy appeared confused for a moment. It was almost as though he was confused about whether or not he should be confused. "But… I'm here now."

Zoro stood, carrying the boy over to lay him on the other couch that was still dry. "Let's get into bed. Then I'll explain."

Luffy didn't argue, and Zoro walked to the dresser to change into a dry pair of pants. He came back, wrapped a blanket around himself, positioned himself on the couch beside Luffy, and pulled the blanket on the back over both of them before tucking his captain in against him.

Luffy was comfortable in this new position. It was finally starting to warm up. He could feel his limbs again, though he couldn't make his body stop shaking.

Zoro held his arms around his captain and rubbed his back. He noted that the smaller pirate was still shaking, though whether it was for cold or shock, Zoro wasn't sure. He suspected it was a combination of the two. "What do you remember?"

Luffy pressed himself as close to the heat as he could and closed his eyes as he tried to regain control of his body. "I remember the white thing pulled me in the water. It was choking me. And then I remember you on that island thing."

"Do you remember breathing water?"

"No."

"Getting sick?"

Now Luffy paused. …he had been sick… Had he been sick? He wasn't sure… "I wasn't sure if that was real or not."

Zoro frowned. "It was. I jumped in when I heard a splash. It took me a while to find you because the water was dark, and then I had to get rid of that sea creature, and then get you to the surface, and by the time I did, you weren't breathing."

Luffy was still trying to make himself stop shaking. His control was slowly coming back as Zoro warmed him. "Then the island?"

Zoro's eyes remained on the back of the couch as he kept hold of his captain, unwilling to let go again. "Yeah. Then the island…"

Luffy didn't respond as he waited for more. His shaking was almost nil now, and he was able to almost relax all of this muscles now.

Zoro continued, "You died tonight, you know? I had to work hard to bring you back."

Luffy was quiet for a moment as he tried to think of what to say. After a moment, he went with the traditional smile and gratitude, "Arigatou na, Zo-"

"You scared me, Luffy."

The interruption had been unexpected, and Zoro's confession shut down Luffy's cheerful passivity in a heartbeat. Zoro was never scared, and he wasn't about to let Luffy feign obliviousness to get out of his situation. The captain was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke again, he was serious. "I know. I remember, Zoro cried."

Zoro could have denied it to protect what was left of his pride after the fear confession… but part of him was glad Luffy knew.

Zoro squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep, shuddering breath, "I almost lost you tonight."

Luffy heard the words and pressed himself to his first mate. "But you didn't."

"You don't understand. You were _dead_, Luffy. Your heart _wasn't beating_ anymore." This was hard. Zoro was really trying to open up to him, but he didn't know how to say his feelings… geez.

"Zoro," Luffy breathed, moving one arm to grasp the hand the hand around on of his shoulders, "I'm here with you now. I'm not going anywhere."

Zoro forced his voice to stay low. Any more audible and the boys would wake. "Luffy… I've seen hundreds of men die. I've even buried friends before. Death is no stranger to me, and I know better than most that the life of a pirate can end unexpectedly. If one of us were to die in battle, I would accept it."

His arms tightened around his captain, and Luffy responded as best he could. "…But I've never held someone I cared about as they slipped away. What you did tonight… If you EVER do again what you did tonight…"

He knew he was probably freaking the kid out, but Luffy had scared the hell out of him, so he didn't care. He was just so glad to be able to hold him again. If he had died… God, _if he had died_… Zoro couldn't even imagine the pain… And what would he have done then? He pushed those thoughts aside and just reveled that his captain was alive and talking to him.

Luffy stepped in when he saw that Zoro had talked himself into a corner, and the way in which he was being embraced changed to something…less desperate and more affectionate. "Zoro, you don't have to be scared. I'm gonna be okay, you see? I'm not going to leave the people I love."

Zoro ran his fingers through Luffy's hair as he made himself calm down. He so wished that he could bring himself to say what he wanted to… but as it was… "You know you can't abandon your crew out here. What would they do withou-?"

Luffy squeezed Zoro now, "I'm not gonna leave the person that loves me most…"

…And there it was. Maybe Luffy had felt that the moment was as right as Zoro had, and had merely had courage that Zoro had not to voice it… but he was ready to put all hands on the table. Just like that, Luffy had come to his rescue this time, and put his own heart in danger by making that first move. Zoro could confirm or deny the boy in only a few words. The ball was in his court now.

Of course, Luffy would never have made a play like that unless he was sure to be a victor. Idly, Zoro wondered how long his captain had known. He kissed the boy's head, "You'd damn well better not. I don't know what I'd do without you anymore."

Luffy heart swelled with a happiness he'd never known. _Finally_… He tried to raise his face to see his swordsman's but hissed in pain as his neck tightened instead.

Zoro moved one hand to guide the raven-tousled head up, and the two met in a soft kiss that told each other worlds more than words ever could. Neither forced their kiss upon the other, and neither pulled away. Knowing that this had to be Luffy's first kiss, Zoro taught him what he knew, staying gentle, showing him that it was okay to breathe. Luffy responded well, focusing entirely on the feeling. They would pull apart only to meet again in different ways, experimenting. As they got more into it, Luffy started to really get warm. He moaned involuntarily. There was a stiffening below…

Luffy's soft moan let Zoro know when it was time to slow down. He moaned softly in response to let Luffy know that he hadn't done anything wrong, and then gently ended the kiss.

Luffy was breathing a little heavier now, "Zoro, are we… I mean, c-can we…"

Zoro listened as his captain try to say what he had secretly longed to hear for so long. Luffy's skin was hot to the touch now, which was certainly a turn around from earlier. Zoro was glad to see that Luffy was out of danger. He didn't even seem to be in bad shock anymore. The libido of a seventeen year old boy was such a powerful thing…

"I mean, I've never…done…um…"

Zoro silenced him with another kiss. When he pulled away, he smiled at the boy. "You're not doing anything tonight, either." When Luffy sighed, he continued, "When you're better, I'll show you some stuff. And we'll move at your pace, captain."

Luffy smiled at his swordsman's words. That sounded nice. Unfortunately, arousal doesn't go away so quickly, and when Zoro pulled him in for one last kiss, the two met in the middle and there was a surge of pleasure that he couldn't ignore.

Zoro felt himself rub up against his soon-to-be-lover even through the blankets, and closed his mouth over Luffy's to quiet the inevitable moan that a brush like that would, and did, cause. After Luffy had quieted, Zoro readjusted himself against his partner and then rubbed his back to help quell his need. "You need to get some sleep."

Luffy tried to nod, remembered that he couldn't, sighed instead, and relaxed. "Kay."

Zoro continued to ran his hand through the boy's hair as he felt Luffy's breathing slow.

"mmn…love you, Zoro."

It was the faintest whisper, and it made Zoro the happiest man alive. He had found his someone. He kissed Luffy's head again, "Go to sleep, buddy. I'll be here when you wake up."

Luffy smiled to himself. He knew it would take some time for Zoro to be able to verbally express his love just because he was Zoro, but Luffy felt it. It was there and it was strong. And he knew it would last for life, for Zoro was nothing if not faithful. Besides, there were so many other ways to express adoration, and being the action man that he was, Zoro was sure to know several…

As Luffy drifted off, Zoro enjoyed the feel of holding him like that. He didn't know what the others would say and he didn't particularly care. Luffy was his now. He wasn't going to let that change if he could help it.

Before too long, exhaustion won over and his captain was sleeping, giving Zoro a chance to lean back and run his fingers over the small boy's throat. Pale green now, it would be black and blue before too long. He would have Chopper take a look. In the meantime, he reached over to the table and grabbed for the bag again. Feeling around inside, he came out triumphantly with the 'bruise juice' that Chopper kept in a small bottle. It was liquid, so Zoro worked carefully as he poured some into his palm and pressed it to Luffy's neck.

He worked carefully to rub it into the hurt flesh so as not to wake the boy or cause further damage. Not a treatment to be used sparingly or in a rush, Zoro rubbed in several coats until the small bottle was almost empty. It was just better to do this while Luffy could sleep through it, for the constant pressure on his neck and the slow process would be tedious for him to endure consciously. He would check Luffy's temperature in the morning.

When he was finished, Zoro put the bottle back in the bag, making a mental note to tell Chopper to make more the next day. Zoro then relaxed, prepared to stay awake for the rest of the night.

…Which didn't turn out to be very long, as luck would have it, and after only an hour or so Sanji was getting up to make breakfast. Zoro heard him roll out of his hammock and go through the dressing process, and then pause (no doubt upon seeing them)… and then head over to the ladder without saying a word.

When the other two boys awoke, they went topside without even pausing to stare. Of course they were so innocent, both of them, that Zoro wasn't surprised a bit that they failed to read between where the big neon lines of red and green met.

* * *

Robin must have explained what happened to the crew at breakfast like she said she would, for Sanji brought down a breakfast for both Zoro and Luffy without a word about an hour later, and Chopper came to give the small captain a check-up without explanation right after they had all finished eating. Luffy's breakfast had consisted of only very soft foods, and the boy had taken his time in getting it down. 

As soon as the sun was high enough, and as the tide rose nice and high, the crew acted on Luffy's previously given orders to maneuver off the reef and out of the corals with the tide that day. Nami had come down a little before lunch to double-check. Luffy had been sleeping, and neither had wanted to wake him, so Zoro had simply asked, "We leaving?" which had been the authoritive hand-off.

As Zoro had expected, Luffy had contracted a high fever by the first afternoon, and stayed downstairs with him almost constantly over the next two days until it had dropped again. His neck had no permanent damage, but lots of swelling. But with a diet of soft food that Luffy couldn't possibly get full on, and ice pack on it when he took his almost constant forced naps (Chopper gave him painkillers that had a rather strong narcoleptic side effect), the swelling and tenderness lessened considerably from the lack of abuse it would usually be getting. Though Luffy didn't agree, the sleep was really a mercy on both his fever and his throat. Had he been up, he'd have been racing around the freezing deck even though he was sick, and also when he was awake he had a tendency to swallow everything from marshmellows to silverware.

On the morning of the third day, a healthy Luffy woke Zoro and asked him to come play outside. At first Zoro was about to tell him to go back to sleep because it was barely the crack of dawn and no one else was up yet. And then he woke up a little more.

Without a word, the swordsman got off his couch and followed his captain out of the cabin. Once he got to the top of the ladder and closed the hatch, he turned to see… an empty deck. Not seeing Luffy anywhere that someone just coming out of any of the bedrooms could see, Zoro moved on a hunch up the stairs that led to the back of the ship. Anyone coming to the back deck could be heard coming, giving some warning. Though Luffy's reasoning would probably be less about the rest of the crew's potential view, and more about the two of theirs'.

As Zoro suspected, as soon as Aft came into view, there was Luffy, standing at the back of the ship by the railing, watching the sunrise. It was a view that Zoro had grown fond of over his time with Luffy.

Knowing that their time was precious, Zoro walked over to his captain. When Luffy didn't move upon hearing his approach, Zoro knew he wanted a peaceful moment and wrapped his arms around the smaller pirate from behind.

Luffy leaned back against his best friend, raising his hands to wrap them around Zoro's larger ones. It was quiet. It was nice.

After a couple of serene moments like that, Luffy spoke quietly in Zoro's arms. "You know that thing you told me a couple days ago? About how I might be a little careless about falling in the ocean?"

Zoro smiled a little without moving his eyes from the sunrise, "You mean that you _are_ _definitely_ way _too_ careless about falling in the ocean, yeah."

Luffy smiled a little sheepishly. "Yeah. That." He was quiet for a few seconds after that before proceeding. "Does it scare you when I fall in the ocean?"

"Every time." There was no point in hiding it. "That's why I yell at you for it. Even when you're safe, you put yourself in danger."

Luffy frowned a little. "I'm a pirate, Zoro. It's never really safe."

Zoro loosened his arms a little to turn Luffy around. "That logic won't work here. Dying in battle is one thing, but almost drowning three times a day on a calm day for no justifiable reason, Luffy?"

Luffy smiled. "I know. That's why I'm going to try not to fall off the ship anymore." Seeing that Zoro wasn't impressed right away, Luffy continued, "I mean really try. For real." He gave his decisive nod, "I've decided."

Zoro watched all this, and after a moment he laughed a little. In answer, he pulled Luffy tight against his chest, running his hand through the raven hair, "I'd appreciate that."

Luffy hugged him back for a moment, before pulling away again to meet his swordsman with a rather coy smile. "Soooo… I'm better now. Didn't you say something about how you were gonna show me some things…?"

Zoro burst into laugher. Luffy coy. Now there was a picture!

Luffy didn't get offended, however. He just sighed dramatically and turned away, "I should have known you were bluffing. I mean, what 'stuff' could you possibly know that's so impressive?"

Zoro's laugher stopped dead. _Oh you're asking for it! _Just for that, instead of exercising in the traditional way, he was going to show his cocky little captain so much 'stuff' that the imp wouldn't be able to use his legs for a week. "Do you have the Armory Room key?"

Now Luffy looked back curiously, "But we never lock the Armory."

"We are today." Zoro kept his eyes fixed on his captain's changing expression as realization dawned on the smaller teen. "Do you have the key, or not?"

Luffy looked him up and down, and, still feigning indifference, began to head back for the stairs. "Of course."

Zoro followed him at a distance. There was no need to crowd him… there would be plenty of that starting in the next few minutes. He was really going to enjoy establishing the power of his manhood to his captain. Zoro had been willing to move the sex slow before this, for Luffy's own virgin sake, but now that he was positive that this moment was all that Luffy had been thinking of for the last three days, there would be no mercy. After all, if Luffy wanted to be _impressed_, who was Zoro to deny him?

* * *

AN: okay, here's the bottom note i mentioned above regarding a lemon. This story can obviously go that way. I can write another chapter, an explicit chapter for those who will not be offended at all by a good lemon. But I will not post it under this account. I'm very hesitant to post anything that gets overly-suggestive under this account because I don't want my primary account closed again. (it happened before two years ago, i've really been on this site since 1999!). I could make a new one for HARD YAOI (sex yaoi. it's what the japanese call it.A lemon is HARD YAOI and a lime is SOFT YAOI), but i think it would be romoved quickly. 

If you want to read my lemons, and the third chapter of this, then go to my authorpage at AFFnet. I'm known as TreeStar across the internet, my penname doesn't change. I can't post the URL here because it won't show up, but if you click on my authorname at the top of this page and follow it to my authorpage here, then my homepage will be linked there, and that is my AFFnet authorpage with all my lemon stuffs on it.

Thank you all so much!


	3. Part the Third: Armory

****

Coral Reef

__

Part the Third - The Armory

While Luffy grabbed the Armory key from their room, Zoro made a quick stop by the kitchen for something he knew they'd need. It took him a few minutes, but he found it. Who would think to look for vegetable oil where the balsamic vinegar was? Damn Sanji…

He poured a generous helping into a little container and screwed the back lid on. This way when the left the Armory much later they wouldn't receive the jokes that Zoro so wished to avoid. It wasn't that Zoro was ashamed (not in the least. Luffy was quite a catch, after all, and he didn't care whether the others agreed or not), but there WAS a matter of preemptive damage control. Some members of this crew -no matter how old they claimed to be- were incredibly young, immature, and tactless when it came to… well, anything at all.

By the time he got back out, the armory door was open, so he walked down the steps and headed over to it.

He entered to see Luffy spreading a comforter out on the floor. The boy had cleared an area and kept the blanket folded in half for cushion, and was smoothing out the corners. The Armory key was on the floor, and Luffy didn't seem to be aware that Zoro was inside the room yet.

The swordsman closed the door, and locked it from the inside.

Luffy heard the noise and looked up, rising to his feet as Zoro approached him.

His swordsman was looking him up and down with an almost sad kind of look, which Luffy hadn't expected. Neither said anything as Zoro slowly reached to cup Luffy's cheek with one hand. The other moved down across Luffy's tender throat, green eyes pausing there before moving back to Luffy's own blue eyes. His hand slid down over Luffy's heart and rested there.

_I really scared him_, Luffy thought sadly. His own hands moved to cup Zoro's and press them to his chest and cheek respectively. "I'm okay, Zoro. I'm all better now. And look," he dipped his face to the side and kissed Zoro's palm, "I'm still touchable."

Apparently Luffy understood the concept of damage control, as well.

Zoro nodded slightly and slid his hand around the back of Luffy's neck. He kissed his forehead and pulled the captain into a warm, affectionate embrace, which Luffy returned wholeheartedly.

They held this for a for moments before Zoro let his hands begin to roam a little. Nothing imposing yet - nothing scary; despite Luffy's cockiness, Zoro wasn't sure how much Luffy was really ready for, and there was no rush. Luffy had issued a challenge to be impressed, and he would be, but he really had no idea what he was asking for. Zoro never wanted Luffy to feel anything but pleasure in his arms. This would be anything but a meaningless roll in the sack. This would be love making.

What an odd thing to think of it as, making love. Zoro had _had sex _with four women before and he had many skills in the bedroom. He'd _slept with _them, he'd _taken _them, and he'd even been_ gentle _with them. But he had never once _made love _to any of his conquests.

Luffy was different. So, so different. First of all, he was male and Zoro had never intimately touched a man before. That would make this a learning experience right there. Second of all, Luffy was rubber, and a whole new world of discovery laid therein. Zoro was going to take his own leisurely time with this because he wanted to learn everything that was Luffy.

He leaned back a little, and when Luffy looked at him in question, he kissed him deeply, honestly, longingly, and with a deep satisfaction that this was really happening. Luffy was really in his arms and doing his best to respond to the kiss.

Zoro was determined to make this experience all about Luffy. He needed to make Luffy understand how much he loved him; _feel_ how much he loved him.

Words were so easy to say. Expressing with lips and hands and body, blanketing the recipient with the love that was so much more tangible than words can ever be, conveying the expanse and reach of one's love so clearly to the other that they are overwhelmed and each simple touch suddenly has the power to render them helpless, and to feel that received through responses that would not be given lest that love was returned just as strongly… that was what making love was.

This wasn't just some claim of his captain's body, this was a claiming of Luffy's soul. Luffy already owned his, and that made Zoro feel more vulnerable and scared and wonderful than words could say. He wanted Luffy to feel the same things he felt as he backed the boy up toward the blanket. He _needed_ Luffy to feel this with everything that he was, _crave_ everything that was in this act, and be amazed by its power.

Zoro had never understood it before, but now, as he kissed his captain and felt the smaller boy shudder with each breath he took, it became very clear. This is what Zoro wanted to have with Luffy. Anyone could push someone against the wall and take him from behind. There was nothing special in a quickie. But to make it really amazing it had to be built up, anticipated, and desired to the point of breaking.

Luffy's virginity was also a factor. No matter how adaptable as his captain was, Luffy was in a precarious situation and trusting Zoro to know what to do. Such things had to be handled delicately. The first mate understood his captain best, after all. Both of them were creatures of fierce passion, but without the knowledge of how to counter a physical assault, they were disarmed. While Zoro knew many ways to accomplice this experience, he was positive that Luffy did not.

Bringing his hands back around to Luffy's chest, Zoro moved to the top button of his vest and unfastened it. Luffy wrapped his hands around Zoro's wrists, not to stop them or to guide them, but to support them. To make sure Zoro knew what he was being trusted with.

Zoro moved down to the next button, and the next, and the next until Luffy's vest hung open and Zoro could slide it off strong shoulders to fall on the floor. This time when his hands roamed, they held more purpose. Letting his fingers slide up over Luffy's ribs, and ghosting his thumbs over those perfectly dark pink nipples.

Despite knowing what was coming, Luffy still managed to be taken by surprise by the caress of Zoro's warm hands when the touches to his nipples became less fleeting and more intentional.

Luffy took a deep breath and tried not to cry out as Zoro teased his nipples, tickling them, pinching them, stroking them…

After he was sure he knew what Luffy liked, Zoro slid his hands down his captain's soft tummy and toyed with the button for a moment before undoing it, and then carefully unzipping his fly.

Luffy held onto his forearms, as if trying to learn through touch as well as sight just how Zoro was removing his clothes. It was pretty cute, actually.

The shorts slid to the floor, and Zoro walked Luffy back toward the blanket. "Lay down," he whispered.

Luffy nodded, and lowered himself to the floor before looking back up at Zoro as if to say, 'now what'? What he saw in his swordsman's eyes made him blush like a strawberry.

Zoro sat down beside his little lover and beheld all that Luffy was offering him freely. Zoro drank him up greedily with his eyes. It was amazing how one could see a person naked a hundred times, yet when the mood changed just a little, everything became new. Of course, Zoro had never seen Luffy like this:

Lying on his back, one knee bent with foot on the floor while he curled his toes curled slightly, leaving nothing hidden from view. Abs relaxed, chest expanding with slow, deep breaths that were gradually speeding up at the way Zoro was looking at him for the first time. One arm stretched out, fingers grasping the blanket as if unsure what it was supposed to be doing whilst the other relaxed beside his face. Already rock hard with anticipation, seven inches of velvet on steel hovering just under his belly button and twitching with eagerness - Luffy was an ideal size. But most beautiful of all was the way his gorgeous eyes were watching Zoro self-consciously, hoping for approval as only a virgin could.

Luffy was true eye candy. Full of promise.

Zoro hovered beside his lover and trailed his fingers from the nape of Luffy's neck down his chest, and along his tummy, drawing more little noises from the captain the lower he got. He stopped once he'd covered his belly button, not ready to go any further just yet, and let his palm rest there.

"Beautiful," he whispered.

Luffy turned impossibly pinker and smiled a shyly, doing a little internal dance of joy that his eyes shined with.

"Can- can I…" Luffy took a deep breath and let it out, trying to regain his sense of command that he sometimes defaulted to. "I wanna see you."

Zoro's could have smirked at Luffy's boldness, and he was sure this is what the boy expected, but instead his gentle smile returned, the same one he expected he would be wearing a lot in the future when they were alone together, and Luffy found comfort in the patience and love that it naturally carried.

"Okay. Do you want to the honors? Or should I?"

Luffy looked unsure for a moment, then repeated, "I wanna see _you_."

Zoro laughed a little and rose to his feet, pulling off his shirt first before moving on to his pants. He'd never bothered putting on boots that morning, thank goodness, because boots slowed everything down. He wondered if Luffy had ever really seen him before. As in, all of him. Zoro was substantially more modest than the Human Streak; he was rarely naked, and rarely hard, and never at the same time unless he was alone taking care of a certain kind of personal business.

Keeping his eyes on Luffy, he stood up for his assessment, and suddenly felt -for the first time in his life- terribly nervous and uncertain about himself. Luffy's opinion mattered THAT much, and Zoro was surprised to find that he was now the one wearing that self-conscious expression.

He was so scarred and damaged, nothing like the beautiful tapestry that Luffy's body was. Since they'd met, Luffy had never failed to heal from a wound completely, and his skin was a flawless tan sheen that looked oh, so edible. But Zoro…

Thankfully, however, Luffy was not a fake person in any way, and his responses were always genuine, so when he looked Zoro up and down and then licked his lips without realizing it, Zoro felt his apprehension melt away.

Luffy smiled up at Zoro. He was perfect, just as Luffy'd always known he would be. There were scars littered across his body that attested to whole journey together, and Luffy wanted to feel and kiss each and every one of them. He would never understand how anyone could look upon Zoro (when he wasn't angry) and be afraid. Zoro was so compassionate that he had to hide it behind a gruff exterior off the ship so that people wouldn't know that he was a complete dandelion.

Luffy knew. Luffy'd always known.

Returning Luffy's smile, Zoro lowered himself back down to the blanket and crawled over to Luffy, placing one hand on either side of the boy and leaning in to capture those lips with his own. Luffy returned the kiss all too willingly, interlacing his fingers behind Zoro's neck to pull them closer together, tasting and feeling and breathing as one.

This was satisfying for a few moments, but then Zoro felt Luffy's legs begin to slide up and down along the blanket - a sure sign that he needed more. Luffy broke the kiss and looked up at Zoro with heated eyes that begged for something that he couldn't identify. Luffy looked so helpless, any thoughts of challenge clearly forgotten - for which Zoro was grateful.

Zoro smiled, kissed him softly, and then continued to pepper kisses along his jaw back to his ear, biting the edge and then continuing to tease it when a gasp of breath told him he'd found a sensitive spot.

"Aahhhh… ummm…"

Zoro smiled and listened to the music Luffy made. He would remember this place. After spending some time there, he moved down the boy's neck, feeling Luffy's hands grasp his shoulders for need to clutch something more solid than blanket if these feelings were to continue.

Zoro smiled as he focused on the juncture of his neck and shoulder, earning himself a soft moan. _Nice…_

He noticed that every time his fingers stroked over Luffy's sides and tummy, the boy shivered and his muscles fluttered beneath his hands.

He grazed one nipple lightly with his teeth and watched with deep satisfaction as Luffy's eyes slid closed and his head rolled back, a deep moan escaping his throat.

_So expressive_, Zoro thought. _I haven't even done anything yet._

Luffy reached for Zoro in a silent plea, wanting to touch him, but not knowing how. Zoro smiled at the boy, took his hands and kissed them both before laying them back against the blanket. "It's alright, Luffy. Just feel."

Luffy nodded, laying his head back again, left with no choice but to surrender to sensation.

There would be time for time for Luffy to touch later, and Zoro was glad that he was eager to learn, but among the many wonders of life that Luffy had experienced, Zoro knew that _this_ was not one of them.

He worked the other nipple over for a while before releasing them both from his torment and sliding further down, adoring the way Luffy kept his eyes on Zoro's the entire time, trusting him wholly.

Luffy's mind was awash with pleasure and confusion. It was so much different… _so_ much different than when he touched himself. The things that Zoro was doing to him… he'd had no idea he was so sensitive before. He never knew what to expect next, and the anticipation made everything so much more powerful. It was like his whole body had been hiding all these secret erogenous zones that he'd never come across himself, but that Zoro could find and manipulate with ease.

Luffy didn't know how he was doing it, but GOD he hoped he'd never stop! If this was foreplay, what was real sex like?

Zoro's hands continued to move over his body in teasing, knowing motions, and Luffy's mind was filled with a thousand thoughts a second. Should he be doing the same thing to Zoro? Would it feel as good? God, he hoped he wouldn't screw up. Why hadn't Ace ever been more specific when talking with him about developing feelings _down there_? Now he had them, but he wasn't sure what to do with another person who had them, too_. _He hadn't known what to expect when he'd come in here with Zoro, but it hadn't been anything so… sensual and gradual. His own orgasms had always been quick and to the point. But this… This meant so much more than anything Luffy had ever dreamed of. Maybe it was because he was with Zoro, but Luffy never thought that he would feel so comfortable being touched like this for the first time.

Zoro saw the questions in those hazy eyes, and smiled up at him. "Luffy, stop thinking," he coaxed.

Luffy nodded after a moment, and tried to relax his breathing again.

Starting with fleeting touches, Zoro couldn't help but appeal to Luffy's childish nature, and teased the soft tummy, smiling at how Luffy's face crinkled as he tried not to giggle at the persistent tickling. It was important to keep Luffy relaxed through this experience, and bedroom games were things that Zoro was more than willing to play with him to maintain that.

Also, Zoro had known Luffy long enough to be aware that the boy didn't drop his guard easily in unfamiliar situations. These cries and motions Luffy was making were not just virginal reactions, and Zoro's heart swelled with the realization that Luffy was reacting this way because of _who_ was touching him. But he was not naïve enough to not miss that the cries were also due in part to extreme sensitivity. Luffy was being taken from first base to home plate in one day, and Zoro knew that sensory overload was a very feasible thing that Luffy would probably experience before the hour was out. He was determined to make Luffy's first time the most memorable moment of his life thus far.

Luffy's rubber body was the most sensitive he'd had the privilege to touch, and Zoro was aware that he would have a new concern to worry about in the future. After all, if Luffy was so sensitive, how well could he honestly handle being injured? How much of a front did he actually put on for his crew during recovery? Zoro would watch him more closely in the future. For now, he had different discoveries to uncover.

He continued moving down the pliable flesh, observing every reaction, every twitch, every gasp as closely as possible and logging away all the information he could to varying techniques of lips, tongue, teeth, fingers, lighter grazes and firm rubs. What was sensitive? What was so-so? What was ticklish? What made him cry out? Thrust? Hold his breath?

He dipped his tongue into Luffy's navel, eliciting little hiccupping noises, as though Luffy couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry out a the sensation. Zoro's hand slid lower over Luffy's skin, twirling circles all the way down to his bottom abs, watching those tone muscles flutter all the way down, and then stopping over the patch of skin between his hip and his groin that Zoro knew made his own dick flex every time it was touched.

Pinning Luffy's hips, Zoro lapped at it experimentally just to hear the little cry of surprise before he locked his lips over it and sucked.

"AAHhhhhnn… Oh, God! …What are y- aaannnn… doing to me? Zoro…" There was no sound that compared to Luffy's voice when he arched his back and threw caution to the wind. He was genuine perfection.

Luffy was beyond thought at this point. Zoro wasn't letting up on that sensitive patch on his lower tummy at all, and he was reduced to whimpers (he actually _whimpered!_) when his lover's fingers expanded the sensations to other parts of his body, caressing his ankle and then tracing up his calf, over his knee, and along his inner thigh.

Luffy was shocked to realize that he knew so little about his body. How did Zoro know where and how to touch him? It was surreal!

"Oh God!" he gasped and bucked up when Zoro found a patch a little over half way halfway up his inner thigh that shot straight to his raging dick. This must have surprised Zoro, too, because he paused for a moment at Luffy's shout before adopting a feral grin that Luffy felt more than saw. "W-what are you gonna do?"

Zoro nipped at his hip once in answer before redirecting his lips to follow the trail his fingers had just taken, starting at the ankle and slowly kissing and licking his way up his calf, tasting every bit of skin along the way. Luffy was both grateful for the breather, but anxious about the smirk he'd felt; that one that said 'I've got you now'. When Zoro reached his knee, he looked up to give him that smirk again before sliding further down his body and then up between his legs, giving his mouth prime access to everything between them. Zoro lifted Luffy's calf and positioned it so that his knee was resting on his shoulder, then let his fingers trail over the outer thigh whilst the other hand rested against Luffy's hip. He let his gaze wander to Luffy's engorged manhood hungrily before turning his oral attentions to Luffy again.

Luffy's eyes never strayed from Zoro's lips as they started at his inner knee and slowly… sloooowly moved higher, closer. As he worked his way along, Zoro noticed that the skin barely even felt rubbery anymore. The rest of his body, while not obviously rubber, had a slightly different density to it.

It made all the sense in the world really, Zoro realized as he pleasured the boy. Luffy ran around with most of his body exposed to the elements at all times. The ensemble of a vest that was only buttoned half the time, shorts, and sandals provided virtually no protection at all to anything except his thighs and his crotch; the only two body parts that stayed covered unless he was soaking in hot water, and that was hardly harsh on the body. Tender and delicate, these areas truly were virgin.

The captain was sweating markedly now, gasping at every nip he received, breathing faster the higher Zoro got, and Zoro knew his guess had been right. He kept his pace steady, making sure that Luffy was expecting it to continue that way, letting the boy dig his own grave before suddenly darting up several inches to the spot -the same spot halfway up his thigh that he'd - that he suspected was Luffy's starting line.

"ZOROohh ooohhhhh!" Luffy's shout trailed into moans and his head fell back, eyes unfocusing.

Zoro sucked the patch of skin into his mouth and nibbled it a little. He could feel his captain's toes curling against his back as Luffy's hips bucked, searching for contact from anything that might give it.

Zoro's own need wasn't doing much better. Luffy's fingers were clutching the blanket so hard his knuckles were white, his chest was heaving from the exertion caused by mere foreplay, and it took everything Zoro had to keep from taking the boy in his mouth to hear the screams that would echo through the Armory. The only thing that kept him in check was the painful knowledge that Luffy had to be built up gradually, because there was honestly a good chance that he didn't know what oral sex even meant, and to suddenly swallow his cock would scare the hell out of him.

He started moving again, lips and tongue moving over higher skin and driving Luffy wild. The little captain just got more sensitive the higher Zoro got, bucking up hard every few seconds when Zoro would stop and suck hard on his virgin skin. His cock was swollen and red with the need to be touched. He hadn't even known it was _possible_ to crave relief so much. He needed Zoro to touch him and pump him and make him _cum_.

Zoro fingers reached up to stroke his balls, taking him by surprise and making him gasp. The only thing he could register now was that Zoro was touching him, and it felt _incredible. _Zoro leaned in to kiss his sac, redefining the word 'delicate' and gauging Luffy's breathing to make sure he didn't overstep his boundaries and scare him. When Luffy gasped and arched up to meet him, Zoro accepted the offering, licking and tasting soft skin, feeling it tense under his ministrations. He moved along to the base of the cock with kisses and wet nips of the tongue and lips, working his captain into to a symphony of cries and labored breathing.

Luffy's frazzled mind tried to imagine what those lips would feel like wrapped around his shaft, but shook his head in an effort to clear those imaginings. That was insane! There was no way Zoro would ever do something like that! He'd never even heard of such a thing. Still, he couldn't focus on anything but desire. He _wanted_, damn it! At a time like this, those thoughts he'd consider perverse were-

"Hun! Zoro- aaauuunnnnn…"

Zoro didn't say a word, but toyed with just the head for a moment, licking, hinting, tasting, taking one small warning suck that made Luffy's eyes roll up, and then freezing for a moment…before suddenly sucking Luffy deep into his throat as the boy tried not to scream in ecstasy. Zoro's tongue roamed around the sensitive underside of the shaft in his mouth as he brought his cool fingers up to tickle the velvety scrotum. Luffy gasped and writhed beneath him helplessly seeking… something. He clung to the blanket so hard his hands hurt, but it did nothing to relieve the fire burning deep inside him. It was so much… TOO much. Then Zoro deep throated him and _hummed_, making Luffy seize up, vision going white as the vibrations engulfed him and reverberated down deep into his prostate.

"Ahhh! Fu- OOOOHHH…"

He never wanted it to end, but at the same time if he didn't find some sort of relief soon, he was certain he would die.

Zoro's own cock was dripping steadily, but his heart was expanding. Luffy was stunning, his sounds and motions. Warm and lithe, gorgeous and completely submissive.

__

You are perfect. I hope you realize that. I'll teach you. I'll make sure you know how amazing you are to me.

Zoro kept his eyes trained on his captain's upper body to watch when Luffy's voice gradually rose in pitch, reaching a crescendo, and then stopped as the boy held his breath, head tipping back, glazed eyes unfocused, jaw going slack… and then the air coming out in a rush and a shout, his voice ringing out before cutting off abruptly to pant quickly before crying out again as wave after wave of overwhelming pleasure gripped his total existence.

Finally Luffy collapsed back on the blanket, chest rolling in pants that gradually changed into soft sobs. Zoro pulled himself up Luffy's body and captured his lover's lips again, cupping his cheeks and wiping away the tears as Luffy kissed back desperately. Zoro understood what was happening, and when Luffy curled his arms around Zoro's neck in a silent plea to be held while shaking his head like he didn't want to be touched, Zoro wrapped his arms around the small body and sat up, pulling the boy up to straddle his lap.

Luffy's mind had been thrown into turmoil, he was filled with a sense of guilt, for he didn't understand how he could ever deserve for Zoro to touch him as he had, to love him as he did. But he was terrified to say anything for fear that Zoro would agree.

"I love you," he cried instead.

And Zoro began rocking him. His Luffy was such an emotional creature. "I know, Luffy," he whispered, kissing his head, "I know."

Zoro felt the tears continue to drip onto his shoulder as he whispered sweet nothings (another thing he thought he would never do), and after a few minutes, Luffy pulled back and wiped his eyes with a hand still shaky from the power of his orgasm. He took a deep breath and let it out.

"Zoro," he whispered to himself, as if affirming to himself that he hadn't been dreaming.

Zoro smiled and rubbed his back. "How do you feel?"

Luffy nodded, "I-I'm okay. That was… wow. How did you know how to do that?"

Zoro smirked. "That was nothing. There's so much more I want to show you, when you're ready."

Luffy looked amazed for a moment, then his gaze fell. "Zoro, you're happy with me, right?" It wasn't that he doubted Zoro, but there were some things in life that he needed to hear.

Zoro smiled and kissed him deeply. "Very," he whispered against Luffy's lips, and Luffy smiled and kissed him again.

Zoro couldn't hold back a groan when the friction of their bodies moving together reminded him of his own painfully hard erection. He felt Luffy's knowing and slightly devilish smirk against his lips before the young captain left his lips to trail his tongue along his jaw line, ending at his ear and suckling the lobe into his mouth. Hands began roaming over his skin, zeroing in on erogenous zones and teasing them mercilessly with fingertips.

"Y… you learn too fucking fast," Zoro breathed into his captain's hear.

Luffy's smirk grew, and Zoro struggled to clear his mind. After all, he'd been challenged, and he intended to set the pace for this encounter. Luffy wasn't ready to lead, though he was trying. Zoro should have realized that Luffy would never be a complete submissive to _anything_. Still, the only hand he had to play at the moment was that Zoro fucking wanted him more than anything in the fucking world.

__

You give me so much. You just give and give for me. You don't surrender to anyone in any way, so why do you surrender to me everything?

"My turn?" Luffy breathed.

__

So unfair, Luffy.

"No… You're not ready for that yet. Besides, I'm not done yet. You don't really think that was all there was to it, did you? The main event is next, if you're ready."

"Main…?" Luffy queried.

"That was the appetizer," Zoro said, then realized he'd sounded annoyingly like Sanji.

"That was a big appetizer," Luffy said, smiling with sated curiosity. "What's the next part, then?"

Those round eyes were hazed with satiated bliss, and still radiated innocence. Only Luffy could pull it off. What an ironic creature his captain was.

__

I never stood a chance. Have some mercy, Luffy.

Breathing shakily, Zoro laid Luffy down on the blanket beneath him again, and Luffy relaxed in Zoro's control, curious to feel what would come next. Any nervousness he'd felt before had left him, perhaps due to the onset of afterglow. Zoro was here and touching him and _loving_ him. The ship could have been seized and it wouldn't have mattered as Zoro leaned over him to kiss him again, their cocks brushing against each other between them.

Luffy was surprised to feel that, despite the violent orgasm he had just experienced, he was hardening up again. While it was nowhere near being at full attention, it was surely interested in Zoro's continued manipulations.

Zoro, on the other hand, felt like he was going to hair trigger and cum right there on Luffy's belly if they didn't move on to other things quickly.

He pushed himself to his knees and grabbed the lube bottle, twisting off the top and letting it fall to the floor. Making sure Luffy could see what he was doing, Zoro poured a generous amount of oil into his palm before coating it liberally over his fingers, then he put the bottle back down out of the way.

He looked Luffy in the eye and scooted back a little to get better access to his target.

"Remember, you can stop this at any time. This isn't a battle, and I won't think any less of you if you get overwhelmed and want me to stop. It's a lot at one time, I know. This is about both of us, and if one of us is ever not enjoying something, it's not worth it to continue. So if I go out of your comfort zone, let me know and I'll stop, okay?"

Luffy was nodding. "Zoro, can you really imagine me not speaking up about something like that? You're the one so sacrifices yourself and does things you don't want to, so you just have to promise me the same."

Zoro nodded. "Good," he said, "And I agree."

Luffy looked at Zoro's fingers.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked.

"I'll show you," Zoro answered. "This will probably feel weird, just tell me if I'm going too fast."

Luffy nodded, brows drawn together in confusion, but trusting Zoro nevertheless.

Zoro lowered his hands and traced one finger along the back of Luffy's balls, making the smaller boy gasp and tense his thighs.

"Try to relax," Zoro coaxed.

This was almost a funny statement to Luffy. "Relax. Right. I'm just…still really sensitive."

"I know. That's a good thing." Zoro chuckled, which helped Luffy breathe easier.

Until Zoro traced an oiled finger over his sphincter. That made him tense again, but Zoro paused, and he forced himself to relax, starting to get the idea of what Zoro was doing. He'd heard of this before, but experiencing it was quite different.

Zoro moved in slowly, then slid out gently, and then slid in a little further. He repeated this process a few times, letting Luffy get used to the feel of one finger. He could tell that Luffy found the feeling interesting, but not really intrusive because of whose the hands belonged to.

When Luffy had fully relaxed and was looking at him curiously again, Zoro said, "I'm gonna add more, okay?"

Luffy nodded. "Okay."

Zoro wasn't worried about hurting him-it wasn't as if Luffy needed to be stretched out-but he wanted Luffy to anticipate.

After adding another finger, Zoro began to feel around for what he knew was there. As he moved, the friction he was creating started to get Luffy worked up again, which seemed to surprise the younger of the two. He'd never cum twice in an hour before. Zoro smiled, knowing he was cheating a little by doing what he was about to do, but he'd been challenged.

Then Zoro touched something inside him that made his vision go white. He made a strangled noise he wasn't aware of, and Zoro smirked to himself before getting to know this magic button. He grazed it again, getting the same reaction, and then again, and then he began to torment it mercilessly.

Luffy writhed and moaned beneath him, hot and panting and absolutely helpless. He was beautiful. After several seconds of this, Zoro stopped making unpredictable motions and set up a rhythm of rubbing and prodding, watching Luffy's dick harden and begin leaking again. He poured oil over his own dick with his free hand to the sound of Luffy's cries.

"Zo-Zoro… ahhhhh… nnnnggg… wha… oooohhhhhhmmmmmm… what're yo ah ah ah ahhh ahhhhhh!"

Just before Luffy's crescendo could be reached, Zoro pulled his fingers out, leaving the boy panting on the edge, desperate to fall over it.

"Nonono Zoro don't stop…plea-!"

"Shhh, Luffy. It's coming right back." Zoro crawled up his body and kissed him before he pulled away to take in the sight of Luffy flushed with rose.

His captain's hazy eyes tried to fix on him in silent begging, and Zoro knew he was ready. He slowly slid himself in to the hilt, willing himself to make it until Luffy came first. He'd had to make sure Luffy was so close, because now he was feeling every tremble and pulse Luffy made around his own cock, and it was unbearably good. He waited several seconds to cool down while Luffy sobbed demands and made delicious noises of encouragement beneath him, picking up fairly easily how his voice was turning Zoro on, but only half caring at this point.

Zoro was so lost to Luffy's motions that if Mihawk himself had walked in at that moment and told Zoro that he was giving over his title, Zoro would just have to tell him to get the fuck OUT, because Luffy was flushed and gorgeous and begging for his touch, sobbing his name, needing him more than life itself!

_I love you...so much that I'm afraid even breathing it will jinx it, and I can't risk that because if anything happens to jeopardize how astoundingly breathtaking you are in these moments with me, I'll die_._ Love can't begin to express how strongly..._

"Ah ah AHHH I can't...I need... please -ZORO!"

_You Are Everything._

Zoro began moving at a slow pace at first as he tried to find Luffy's prostate, but once Luffy's high whine let him know he'd found it, he began to speed up, hitting it every time and trying desperately to hold out for as long as he could.

Luffy felt a fire growing beneath his skin and let it build hotter, moving through his chest and slowly burning out to the tips of his fingers and toes as sensation consumed him. When he moved to wrap his legs around Zoro's waist the swordsman took him again in his hand and began to massage him hard but smoothly in time to their rhythm.

Luffy had to remind himself to keep breathing as the pleasure mounted with each movement, growing into something he'd never imagined his body could even feel, and his voice rose higher and higher with each thrust that filled him as Zoro moved faster, faster, _harder_…

Watching him… hearing him… _feeling _him… it was all Zoro could do to stay _sane_. He soon lost his struggle, arms almost giving out as he exploded like a geyser into Luffy and tried not to collapse on top of him in the process.

__

Mine.

Quickly, he thrust a few more times into Luffy, stroking him fast and forcing his eyes open to watch his lover shoot according to his touches. Luffy squeezed down on Zoro as he came, and both of them were blinded by pleasure for a several more seconds until Luffy's second orgasm gradually tapered off, leaving them both completely spent on the floor of the Armory.

Zoro forced himself to roll of Luffy, and his lover helped him before fallowing his roll to curl up against him. Once Zoro had wrapped his arms around him, they both just laid there on the blanket, perfectly content as the world slipped away and left them alone in their afterglow.

"How was that?" Zoro asked.

Luffy smiled like he was considering the question. "Hmmm… Not bad."

"Little brat…"

Luffy laughed. "No, it was incredible. When can we do it again?"

Zoro kissed his head. "It wasn't strange at all?"

"Nope. It wasn't strange. It was you," he snuggled closer with a smile, and then scrunched up his face. "Which is kinda ironic when I think abou- Ow!"

Luffy rubbed his shoulder where Zoro had pinched and laughed.

"Shut up and go to sleep," Zoro tried to grumble, giving Luffy a squeeze and a tickle.

Luffy squeaked and squirmed further into Zoro's heat before resting again, content to make Zoro's instructions reality and knowing he was loved.


End file.
